


Homecoming

by CaseyStar



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Family Reunions, Fluff, M/M, Married Couple, Reunited and It Feels So Good, SEAL Steve McGarrett, YouTube, based off videos of soldiers reuniting with family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27581809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaseyStar/pseuds/CaseyStar
Summary: Six months ago Steve was called out of the reserves and sent on a mission.  Danny has no idea when he's going to return and hasn't been able to speak to him for months.Then Kono arrives at his office door with a video to show him
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 38
Kudos: 271





	Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> I went down a rabbit hole of those videos with soldiers reuniting with family and pets and this happened.
> 
> This is set around late s5, so Danny doesn't yet know about Charlie being his

“Hey, Danny, you got a minute?”

Looking up from the report he’d made no progress on in the last hour, Danny watched as Kono awkwardly muscled her way into his office, her laptop in her hands.

“Not really,” he answered, glancing at the watch he’d had to start wearing since Steve had been deployed and that he _hated_ , and then back at the blank page with its accusatory blinking cursor. It was his weekend with Grace, and with Steve having been away for the past six months, he’d been counting down the minutes until the house would feel a less lonely and would once more be filled with her laughter and joy, a little muted though it was during her step-father’s absence. If he didn’t get the paperwork from their latest case completed in the next hour, he’d either be late to pick her up or have to come in over the weekend and neither of those were an acceptable outcome.

“It’ll only take a couple minutes.”

“Is it important?”

“Wouldn’t bother you otherwise.”

Using her elbow, Kono scooted his laptop aside and replaced it with her own. Danny immediately recognised the familiar layout of YouTube, a video already cued up full screen, the title oddly missing.

“Important, huh?”

“ _Super_ important, Boss. This one just uploaded like five minutes ago and you’re gonna _love_ it.”

Danny wasn’t so sure, having guessed the subject matter of the video. While it _was_ true that he found joy in watching the numerous soldier reunion videos that delighted family members uploaded, the past few days had been the hardest of Steve’s deployment, the loneliness a crushing weight on his chest the likes of which he’d only felt when Rachel had left him. It was only the second time that Steve had been sent on a mission since he’d joined Five-Oh and entered the reserves, and the first since their relationship had begun three years prior. The longer Steve was absent, the harder it became and the more Danny’s anxious mind composed ever more elaborate ways in which he’d never see his husband again.

Danny knew that for many with partners in the military that at least being at work kept them busy, kept their minds off their absent loved one for at least a few hours, but for Danny, every time he drove himself to a crime scene, every time he looked up and saw Steve’s office empty and dark, every time he looked over his shoulder to ensure the crazed SEAL wasn’t throwing himself into the line of fire only to be confronted with an empty space...it was a reminder that he was alone, and that home would be worse. 

The team did their best, trying to drag him out for drinks or dinner to try and fill those quiet hours, but he knew they were holding back on bringing their own spouses for fear of upsetting him and with how little personal time they all got anyway, he didn’t want to rob them of even a minute when they repeatedly ignored his direct orders to bring their better halves. As a result, he’d been spending more time at the shrimp truck, keeping an eye on Nahele for Steve, and gracefully allowing Kamekona to ply him with garlic shrimp. The man was clearly feeling overwhelmed with pity for him – for the past month, he’d been offering 4% off all of Danny’s meals, which sadly had not translated to 4% off his waistline, but had resulted in far more than a 4% increase in lectures from Grace about the dangers of high cholesterol.

As though sensing his reluctance, Kono pressed harder.

“When have I ever led you wrong?” Without waiting for a response, she reached over Danny's shoulder and started the video.

The visual was shaky, clearly shot on someone’s phone and whomever was doing the filming had zoomed in so closely on the soldier’s back and neck that the only identification possible was that it was a man. The fatigues-clad soldier and cameraman trotted up a set of stairs, the visual going blurry for several seconds as the camera was jostled before they approached a pair of double doors.

A pair of very _familiar_ double-doors.

“Huh, that kinda looks like Grace’s school.” Danny glanced at his watch again, getting anxious about wasting time, hearing the tap of keys as Kono paused the video. “Speaking of, I really gotta get back to work, I have Gracie-”

“You don’t gotta worry, brah, we got you. The video is like two minutes, and you’ll like it. I _promise._ But you gotta watch, boss-man. _”_ So saying, Kono pushed the laptop a little further in front of him, and nudged his wrist away.

Once she was assured the video had her friend’s full attention, Kono restarted it. As the soldier pushed his way through the doors, not even stopping to check his friend had gotten though, clearly a man on a mission, a sense of deja-vu crashed over him like a wave.

“That _is_ Grace’s school. I didn’t know there were other military parents at Leeward.” Which was ridiculous, when he came to think of it; three percent of the population of Oahu was military, and while Leeward Academy was expensive, it wasn’t exorbitantly so, and the school body was large.

The soldier strode down the hall, and his walk, what with how he held himself and the way the cameraman was practically having to jog every few steps to keep up set Danny’s chest clenching tight. The man might as well have been Steve for how similarly they moved; shoulders back, head high, arms loose at his side as he made his way down the hall with powerful strides. 

He hadn’t entered the school, he’d infiltrated it and was on his way to conquer.

Back in Jersey, Danny had managed to limit his interactions with the military to predominantly during Fleet Week during which he’d given warnings to more than his fair share of over-served sailors, but within months of coming to Oahu, he’d learned to recognise military from a mile away, and a SEAL from five, and he’d bet the house on this man being a SEAL, or at least Special Forces of some nature. 

So lost in watching the way the man moved was Danny, in his tangled grief at missing Steve and envy of the person soon to be reunited with their loved one while he faced a weekend of Grace’s futile hope of getting a call, he realised he’d missed that the soldier had turned right at the end of the entrance hall, down towards the science block and had come to a stop outside one of the labs.

The lab that he knew currently held the ninth grade’s chemistry class.

 _Gracie’s_ ninth grade chemistry class.

Pain lanced through Danny’s heart and his vision blurred. He must have made some sort of sound because at his side Kono let out a chuckle and she reached over his shoulder to tap a couple of times, the video’s title suddenly revealed across the top of the screen. 

‘ _A SEAL’s reunion with his Monkey.”_

Unable to tear his eyes away from where a _very_ familiar hand was reaching out and turning the door-handle rather than knocking, because even nearly half a year in Fuck-knows-where-istan hadn’t taught the Neanderthal manners, Danny was able to choke out a question, heart thundering against his ribs.

“Kono?”

“Just keep watching, brah.” She sounded as breathless as he felt as the solider, as _Steve,_ stepped through the door and into the lab. Up front, Mr Jenkins halted mid-sentence to look up before smiling, his lack of surprise an indicator he’d been briefed about what, or rather _who_ , was coming. With a nod, he turned back to his class.

_“Miss Williams, it seems you have a visitor.”_

There was the rustling and murmurs of three dozen students all abandoning their work to twist around and turn to look at Grace. For a few seconds, silence reigned and the image blurred as the camera panned and then the camera found her sitting three rows from the front, his precious little girl.

Shock was writ large across her face with her wide eyes and raised brows, her tanned skin already pinking up the way it always did when tears were imminent, mouth dropped open as she stared at Steve. The hush was only broken when the pen in her hand fell from lax fingers and rolled across her desk before plummeting unheeded to the floor.

“ _Pa-Papa?”_

_“Hey, Gracie.”_

_“Papa!”_

Grace’s stool rocketed out behind her as she threw herself to her feet, her hip glancing off her desk with a painful looking blow as she tried to weave between benches and stools, tripping over backpacks in her haste. Now the ruse was finally over, the cameraman, and it must have been Chin, zoomed out just in time to capture the sight of Grace launching herself into her stepfather’s arms with a choked cry, legs wrapping around his waist as she clung to him. The class broke out into whistles and applause as Steve hitched her trembling frame higher in his arms but the pair was oblivious to the ruckus, the high-pitched whines of Grace trying to breathe through her tears audible over her classmates cheering. 

Steve was wrapped around their daughter like a living blanket, and with Grace’s face hidden in his neck, Chin shifted his position to capture Steve’s for the first time and Danny drank in the sight greedily. Other than two video calls in the time Steve had been deployed, they’d had no contact and it was the first time he’d seen his husband since his team had gone dark four months prior: he’d lost weight, his cheekbones more stark than they’d been in years; a heavy beard, shot through with grey, covered his jaw; new wrinkles lined his forehead and framed his squeezed-shut eyes; a row of steri-strips tracked down his right cheek, the vicious looking wound it held shut still a vivid red; and his hair had been buzzed short once more, the way Danny openly derided. He was the most gorgeous thing Danny had ever laid eyes on as he openly wept into their daughter’s hair, hands clutching her close as they both tried to burrow even closer to each other.

Heart in his throat, Danny reached out a hand, trembling fingers stroking the monitor over the image of his husband’s bristly cheeks, chest tight at the feel of the cool, flat screen instead of the warm roughness of Steve’s skin.

From the way Steve’s lips were moving Dany knew the pair were murmuring to each other, but whatever they were managing to say through their tears was indistinct on the video, and while the detective in Danny was desperate to know, the father in him knew it was better that he didn’t; whatever was being said was between father and daughter. Grace’s grief and pain over Steve’s deployment was her own, and her healing now he was home, her delight and relief was between her and Steve alone. Chin seemed to agree, as the camera panned towards the floor and the video cut off.

As the screen became a mosaic of similar titles and he was prompted to select one or restart the video, Danny swiped at his face, unsurprised to find tears had tracked down his cheeks as he’d watched his family. His arms ached to hold the pair, to bury his face in his husband’s neck and breathe him in, inhale that beloved scent of sea salt and gun oil that had been missing for so long and that no longer lingered on his side of the closet. His tongue was heavy with all the words he’d been unable to say during their separation, with words of love and condemnation, of adoration and annoyance, most especially at being the last to know that he was coming home. That he had _come_ home.

The reality of that bled into Danny, that Steve was _home_ , and that only a few miles away his family was together.

Without him.

It was a twenty minute drive to Grace’s school, twelve if Danny used the sirens and drove like Steve. He was standing before he knew what he was doing, knocking into Kono as he tried to move around his desk, hands already digging in his pockets for the car keys, gaze flitting over the mess he’d allowed his desk to become over the months as he searched for a glint of metal when he didn’t immediately find them among the crumpled receipts and loose change that called his pockets home.

“What are you doing?” Kono sounded entirely too amused at his lack of composure.

He rounded on his teammate.

“What am I doing? What am I _doing?_ ” His questing hand closed around the keys, half hidden as they were beneath a stack of expense reports he _knew_ would give the Governor palpitations. He drew them out triumphantly and brandished them at Kono who was, indeed, now openly laughing at him. “I am getting in my car, and driving myself, probably for the last time this century, and I am getting my ass over to my family. What does it _look_ like I’m doing?”

“I mean, you could do that-”

“Oh? Can I? Now I have your permi-”

“Or you could turn around.”

The voice came from behind him. A deep, raspy, _beloved_ voice.

Heart thundering so hard it deafened him to all else, Danny turned slowly on his heel away from Kono’s grinning face, keys jingling in his grip, traitorous hand trembling.

There, in the door was Steve, Grace still doing her best limpet impression sitting on his hip in the manner of a child half of her age, her head tipped to the side and resting atop Steve’s. She'd been too big to be carried for years and Danny missed the way she would nuzzle her face into his neck or cling to him with absolute trust as he carried her half-asleep from the car, Now at fourteen she was, much to his disgust, nearly of a height with him and had gone to great pains to point out she was too old to be carried. Yet despite her many protestations, she was clearly not ready to let her Papa go as she cuddled close, and despite his obvious fatigue and the extra height she’d gained in his absence making her position particularly precarious, Steve showed no strain at holding her up with one hand. 

The keys hit the floor.

“Do you _ever_ knock?” Danny asked, proud that his voice didn’t waver, though under torture he might admit it was a little higher than normal. “Six months away and _all_ the hard work I put into housebreaking you is ruined.”

The smile that split Steve’s face was so wide it looked almost painful, and Danny worried that his chapped lips would split from the strain, teeth shockingly white in his deeply tanned face. His free hand, and Danny couldn’t help but notice the bruising across the knuckles that had been hidden by Grace’s hair earlier, reached up and slowly rapped upon the doorframe. 

Once. Twice. Three times.

“Happy?” Steve asked, staring at Danny, unblinking.

“ _Ecstatic_.”

Danny had imagined the moment of their reunion from the moment Steve had walked away from him on the tarmac at Pearl-Hickam, had _fantasised_ profusely about the moment he got his hands on his husband once more, and what each of those daydreams had had in common was that it involved considerably less clothing and exponentially fewer teammates and minor children in proximity.

Somehow, this moment, their reunion being orchestrated and witnessed by their teammates, _shared_ with their ‘ohana was infinitely better.

Grace slithered down Steve’s side as Danny stepped close, one hand fisting into the fabric of Steve’s fatigues as the SEAL draped his arm around her shoulders.

“Steve…” Danny didn’t know what he was asking for, but he reached out anyway and for the first time in months, Steve’s hand met his, rough and oh-so warm. He stumbled the last steps into his family’s arms before collapsing boneless against Steve’s broad chest, Grace’s little hand closing around his belt and holding tight. He swayed on his feet, and had it not been for Steve’s arm around him, he’d have slumped to the floor.

“You’re home.”

Air rushed into his lungs like he’d not been able to take a breath in six months, and Danny nuzzled against the rough material of the fatigues that covered Steve’s chest. There it was, beneath the reek of recycled air that whatever death trap Steve had flown home in had left on his skin, the delicious aroma of gun-oil and fresh sweat that was only _Steve._

Danny breathed in the familiar scent, unchanged and untainted by wherever his husband had been, whatever he’d seen, whatever he’d been ordered to do that had further damaged his battered soul.

“It’s okay, babe.” Danny felt the soft pressure across his hairline and crown of kisses as Steve assured them both that he was home and safe. “I’m okay.”

Distantly, Danny was aware of movement at his side as Grace released her hold and slipped away, of the feel of Steve’s other arm, warm and strong and clutching him close, wrapping around his waist, the taller man crooning nonsense into his ear as he swayed them in the doorway.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when Danny opened his eyes, he found his knuckles were aching from where they’d clenched too tight in Steve’s shirt, the fabric twisted and bunched but beneath his cheek he felt the wonderful movement of Steve’s chest as he breathed, so wonderfully warm and so very alive and Danny wouldn’t have given it up for a moment. He didn’t realise he’d been crying again until he found the strength to lift his head, only to discover the patch of wetness he’d left behind. 

“We get married and you get all touchy-feely, huh?” Steve carefully brushed back a stray lock of hair from Danny’s forehead, running his fingers through the golden strands, noting the recent haircut that his husband must have had as he scratched through the short hairs at the nape of Danny’s neck, watching him shiver. The buzz of electricity that had always passed between them crackled to life once again, regardless of the time and distance that had separated them for so long.

“Shut up,” Danny tried very hard not to sniffle, “I’m devastated. I loved having the whole bed to starfish in.” Despite his words, Danny’s hands crept around Steve’s back, seeking out the hem of his shirt and slipping up underneath it, splaying against the warm skin of his husband’s back, frowning at the feel of bandages across his shoulder-blades. But before he could ask, Steve captured his chin and tilted his head up.

Their faces were so close then, and they leaned it at the same time, easy and practiced. Despite the time apart it was still so easy, so natural as Steve nudged along Danny’s nose playfully, teasing, causing Danny to huff in frustration. In retaliation, Danny wrapped a hand around Steve’s neck and dragged him down, holding him steady as he lapped at Steve’s mouth, quick teasing licks before retreating, leaving smudges of wet heat against Steve’s lips, tingles shooting down his spine until, with a growl, Steve dove forward and their lips slid together.

Steve’s lips were as chapped as they looked, but pliant and welcoming as Danny stretched up to deepen the kiss. He shivered as Steve teased along the seam of his lips before slipping between them, seeking out Danny’s tongue, stroking against it. Danny trembled as the taste of stale coffee and chocolate exploded across his tongue, and there beneath it all was the taste of _Steve._

The beard Steve sported was rough against Danny’s chin, and he knew his skin would be rubbed raw and sensitive and he couldn’t help but imagine how it would feel against his inner thighs, running down his spine or between his cheeks. Danny wanted to burrow into Steve and never let go, his grip on Steve’s shirt tightening as he rocked forward, deepening the kiss further, heart racing at the moan that was wrenched from deep in Steve’s chest.

But soon enough, far sooner than he wanted, Danny had to pull away to breathe, scowling at Steve’s lack of similar breathlessness.

“Shut up,” he grumbled at Steve’s smirk.

“Didn’t say a thing,” Steve argued lightly, unable to help himself peppering kisses over his husband’s cheeks.

“Yeah, you didn’t say anything real loudly.”

Drawing back, Steve grinned down at Danny, who lifted his hand and ran the back of it along Steve’s cheek, the man’s beard scratching and poking at his skin.

“You look like a hermit.”

“I missed you too.” It was the truth; he’d spent six months feeling as though he were missing a limb, as though he was no longer whole without Danny by his side.

“The beard is gonna be the first thing to go.”

“Not my pants?” Steve waggled his eyebrows at his husband as his mind helpfully provided him with endless images of a naked Danny, golden and aroused and desperate, reaching for him, breaching him, thrusting between his thighs…. Grace had already asked Chin in the car if he and Kono would camp out with her in the yard that night before the whole team went to Wailana’s for breakfast, and he had every intention of making good use of the time before spending the rest of the weekend as a family.

“Steve,” Danny hissed, gaze sliding over to his couch, sure that was where their daughter had retreated to, the young girl unwilling to be separated too far from them, but also not eager to be up close and personal with their reunion.

“I’d say I can’t believe you pulled this shit,” Danny cleared his throat as a blush crept up his neck, trying to get the conversation back on track, “but that’d be a lie. You couldn’t pick up the phone, like a civilized person?”

“You’re not happy?” Steve shot a smile at Danny as the detective rolled his eyes and huffed.

“Of course I’m happy, you animal.”

“I can make you happier.”

“Steven! Grace is _right there._ ”

“What?” Steve jerked back, adorably confused before his lids lowered and his lips quirked up in a leer. “Oh. No. Not _that_.” One eyebrow quirked up and Steve looked thoughtful as his gaze panned over Danny’s body appreciatively. “Well, not ‘ _no’_. I’m tired not dead. But that’s not what I meant.” Learning down, Steve pressed his face alongside Danny’s, lips brushing his ear.

“I quit. No more reserves. No more missions.”

Danny reeled backwards, gaze roaming over Steve’s face, focusing on his eyes as though he could read Steve’s mind if he just focused hard enough, make sure that the man was truly convinced in his decision.

“But your team-”

“ _You’re_ my team.” Steve poured every ounce of conviction and surety into his voice. He’d _been_ sure from the moment he’d stepped onto the Globemaster six months previous. He’d set the wheels into motion within days of landing, having to assure numerous superiors that he knew he had to see out the mission, and that yes he knew what he was giving up, but no he was _not_ going to change his mind.

What they all forgot was what he was going to gain.

Danny was seemingly equally difficult to convince. “I know what the Navy means to you, babe, and I know I bitch about it and I hate that you love it so much-”

“I love you _more._ ”

“- but I need you to be sure. Really, _really_ sure, because you love the Navy. It’s your home.”

Even after years of knowing Danny, of experiencing the man’s transparency with his every emotion, Steve still struggled to verbalize and share how he felt. He didn’t know how to explain that sometimes home was a place, sometimes it was an organization and sometimes, if you were really lucky, it was a mouthy, short, blonde cop with freckles on his shoulders, Jersey in his heart and no pineapple on his pizza, ever. 

So instead, he just settled for, “ _You’re_ my home. You and Grace.” Steve’s voice was firm and even. “I’m not saying it’s not gonna be an adjustment, but I _will_ adjust. This is what I want. What I _need_.” Steve’s arms moved down Danny’s arms and slid around his waist. “I want this, Danno. I want you and Grace and our home together. I can’t-” Steve’s voice cracked and he blinked away wetness in his eyes. Heart aching, Danny cupped Steve’s cheek, the SEAL butting against his palm. Closing his eyes, Steve exhaled slowly, breath washing over the delicate skin of Danny’s wrist. Opening his eyes, he gazed down at Danny, into the blue eyes he loved so much, red-rimmed and bloodshot and oh-so-beautiful.

“I can’t leave you again. I can’t do it to _you_ again.”

“I can handle it-”

“ _I_ can’t _,_ and I don’t want you and Grace to have to, either.”

Danny cocked his head to one side, unblinking as he stared into Steve’s eyes, silent seconds agonising to the former-SEAL until a smile, the beautiful bright smile he so loved spread across his husband’s face and he knew he’d been believed, and he felt his shoulders slump as the tension he’d been holding flooded away.

Reaching for Steve’s hand, Danny lifted it to his mouth, pressing kisses across each ravaged knuckle, the skin torn and rough beneath his lips. They’d not be the last injury that was inflicted upon Steve, life on Five-Oh was not without risk after all, but now those that wanted to hurt Steve would, in turn, be in Danny’s crosshairs.

“You better not be thinkin’ I’m gonna play _Foxhole_ with you out in the woods when you’re missing all the Rambo shit.” Rocking onto his toes, Danny kissed Steve again simply because he could, because he couldn’t not. 

“We’ll see.” Steve was well aware what the sight of him in only his fatigue pants did to Danny, and he was certain that he could lure him out into the jungle with promises of wild sex where nobody could hear them.

“No, we really won’t.” Despite the finality to Danny’s tone, Steve wasn’t concerned; once upon a time his husband had also loudly and vehemently professed he would _never_ even contemplate getting married again. Steve had a way of bringing Danny around to his way of thinking.

Using the hold Danny still had on his hand, Steve tugged his husband closer, their joined hands trapped between their chests as Steve’s other hand curled around Danny’s neck, leaning down until he could rest their foreheads together. Mirroring him, Danny lifted his own hand and cupped the back of Steve’s head, eyes slipping closed as their breathing synced and they shared a quiet moment, hearts beating against their clasped hands.

“Ready?” It was little more than a whisper, asked as he released Danny and stood up straight, hand sliding around to cup Danny’s cheek, thumb brushing over his cheekbone as the man stared down at him like he was the most precious thing in the world.

It was so simple a word for so major an event in their lives, for such a cosmic shift to have occurred, and yet Danny had an even simpler answer.

“Yes.”

Steve’s smile was brilliant, and for a heartbeat he looked like the man that Danny had met so many years ago, one unburdened by a further 6 years of pain and suffering. “Then let’s go home, Danno.” Steve squeezed Danny’s hand. “Take me home.”

“I’ll drive,” Danny argued, and Steve’s brow furrowed.

“Haven’t you got tired of driving yourself?”

A delighted laugh left Danny and Steve’s frown deepened at his amusement which only made him chuckle harder.

“I love you, you controlling ass-hat.”

“I love you, too,” Steve responded, confused, but that laugh, the loving insults he’d not had thrown at him for so long…if it made Danny so happy, maybe he could ride shotgun.

Just this once.

Turning, Danny found Grace holding out the car keys and he snatched them out of her hand just a micro-second before Steve, a clear indicator that the man was exhausted, and therefore not to be trusted behind the wheel, especially with their daughter in the car. Grace slipped under Steve’s raised arm to mould herself to his side, reassuring herself of his presence once more now her parents had had time to reconnect and reaffirm their love. 

Moving as one, the little family walked out of Danny’s office and into the next stage of their lives, the two men still bickering over who got to drive. As she watched them walk away, Kono looked around the offices for her cousin, waggling her phone at him when she saw him by the tech table.

“Got part two right here, cuz.”


End file.
